Rail anchor



Patented June 16, 1925.

1,542,114 PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD G. WARR, OF PARK RIDGE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TQ THE P & M COMPANY,O'F

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Original application filed August 2,v 1923, Serial No. 655,240. Dividedand this application filed April 7,

' f 1924. Serial No. 704,676.

To all who/m t may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD G. WARR, a citizen of the United States,residing -at Park Ridge, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail Anchors, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to anchoring devices and morel particularly to theone-piece type of anchor in which jaws for gripping opposite edges ofthe rail base are differentially disposed with relation to a part of thedevice adapted to bear against th'e bottom surface of the rail so thatmovement of the anchor transversely of the rail distorts the device andeffects a spring grip on the upper and lower surfaces of the, rail base.

Prior to this invention, it has been customary in'manufacturing devicesof the above character to so form the jaw portions thereof as to utilizethe upper inclined surfaces of the rail base as cams to effect adistortion of the yoke when the same i s driven transversely of the railto its applied position. Therefore, in order to obt-ain maximumefiiciency of anchors of the' above general type (the anchors relying-upon .their resiliency to maintain the vdesired grip ,on the rail), itis necessary that they be manufactured accurately and be subjected onlyto a limited distortion during their applications to a rail. Suchaccuracy is diiiic'ult to maintain in the manufacture of anchors of theconfigura-tien heretofore used. v Fur- Ythermom,efficiency of'suchanchors properly formed is often impaired by excessive distortionresulting from improper application of the anchors to their grippingpositions.

A primary object of the invention 1s to provide a rail anchor of theabove general type, that may be more easily and eiciently manufactured,made with a higher average of i erfection as to its rail grippingportions and)` which when applied to a rail will firmly grip the upperand llower surfaces of therail base.

One fof the'speciic objects contem lated by this invention includes theprovision of acne-piece rail anchor device in which4 the jaw Vportionsare so formed with respect to the part of the anchor for bearing againstthe under surface of the rail as to effect .the desired grip of thedevice on the rail dierential position of the jaws and by reason of therelative angle of the jaws with relation to the bottom surface of therail base.

AnotherI effect is to provide an anchor of the above general characterwith means for indicating its proper gripping position on a rail and forpreventing movement of the anchorbeyond its intended applied position soas to avoid excessive distortion of the anchor during its application toa rail.

The invention has for further objects such other new and improvedarrangements and constructions as will be hereinafter described andclaimed for carrying outgthe above stated objects and such other objectsas will appear fromthe following description of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in theaccompanying drawings, whereinV Fig. l is a side view in elevation of arail anchor lconstructed in accordance with my invention, applied to itsoperative position on a rail base,

Fig. 2 is a similar view in elevation of the anchor applied to itsinitial position on the rail and before the anchor .is subjected to anyappreciable stress, and

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the elements illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, theanchordevice beingillustrated in this figure in its applied position.

, In the drawing the reference numeral 10 indicates the lower ortion ofa railroad rail, andll one of t e cross ties on' which the rail issupported.

The anchor is designated generally by the reference numeral l2 and ispreferably formed from a steel bar bent to provide a relatively largehook shaped jaw portion 13 and a smaller jaw portion 14 for en agingopposite edges of the rail base 10 an with an inverted V-shaped portion15 intermediate the jaws for bearing against the under surface of therail base. The V-shaped portion preferably bears against the bottomsurface of the rail nearer the jaw 14 than the jaw 13 so that movementof the anchor 17, of, jaw 14, normally stands at a slightly .greaterangle than the inclined upper surj faces'of the rail base so as toconfine the engagement of the jaws to substantially the upper corners ofsaid rail base. The angle of the inclined surface 17 of jaw 14 1s'preferably, though not necessarily, slightlyv greater than the angle `ofthe surface 16 of the jaw 13 so as to increase the gripping action ofthe anchor during its application to the rail. By providing the anchorwith the inclined surfaces above described, the vertical distancebetween the V-shaped portion 15 and the portion of the jaws engaging theupper surfaces of the rail base may be more accurately controlled and atthe saine time compensate fory variations in the thickness of the railbase and in variations in the slope of the inclined upper `surfaces ofthe rail base.

In applying devices of the general character to which this inventionappertains, the workmen often drive the device beyond its intendednormal position, thereby subjecting the small jaw and other parts-of theanchor to greater distortion than is intended. This is particularly truein connection with the type of anchor in which the end of the larger jawis recessed or otherwise formed to provide an abutment, or shoulder,adapted to assume a position against the vertical edge of the rail basewhen the anchor reaches its operative position. Withsuch structure, thestress on the anchor is somewhat relieved as soon as the edge of suchrecess snaps over the edge of the rail base, and in such case, thehammer blow intended to drive it home, often forces it upon the rail toa point beyond its intended position. Excessive distortion of railanchors of the above character impairs their resilient rail-grippingqualities and makes them unsuitable, when removed, to be applied toother rails. I overcome the above mentioned and other incidentalobjections to anchors of this general type by providing theundersurfaces of both jaws 13 and 14 with relatively abrupt shoulders 19and 20 adapted to abut agalnst opposite edges of the rail base when theanchor is in its applied position. These shoulders, in addition toserving the useful purpose above mentioned, prevent the anchor 'omshifting transversely 'of the rail in either direction from its appliedposition, and also provides suitable means for giving the workmen avisual indication as to when the anchor is nearing its applied position.

In applying my improved anchors to a rail, they larger jaw is firsthooked over one ange of the rail base and the other end is raised untilthe jaw 14 clears the upper edge of the opposite flange of said base. Inthis position of the anchor vthe V-shaped portion 15 will engage theunder surface of the rail base, but the anchor willnormally be loose onthe rail. To tighten the anchors the device is driven in the directionof its length transversely of the rail, for example, toward the right ofFig. 2, so as to force the cam surface 17 over the upper corner of therail base. When the anchor is driven home, the shoulder 19 snaps downover one edge of the rail base and the shoulder 20 abuts against theopposite edge of said base, thereby providing means for locking theanchor in its applied position. The inclination of the surface 18 andlikewise of the surface 17 insures a firm engagement of the jaws withthe rail base adjacent the shoulders. This construction insures that theshoulder 19 will snap down over the edge of the rail and that bothshoulders will properly function to lock the anchor against movement ineither direction transversely of the rail.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial655,240.

I do not claim herein the method employed in the manufacture of theanchor device herein shown. vThe said method is described and claimed inmy copending application Serial No. 708,493.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor` adapted to be driven transversely of a rail to itsapplied position comprisinga raillV .base embracin yoke providedwithijaws having portions or engaging the upper surfaces of a rail baseadjacent' opposite edges thereof and with abutments adapted to bearagainst the vertical edges of the said base; the body of the yoke beingbent to provide a. seat adapted to bear against the under-surface of therail base at a point nearer one of said jaws than the other.

2. A@ rail anchor comprising a yoke formed with jaws to engage the uppersurfaces of a rail base at opposite edges therel .P imi of and withmeans for bearing against the under surface of the base; said jaws beingdifferentially disposed with relation to said bearing means to effectdistortion of said yoke when the yoke is driven transversely of therail, and one of said jaws being formed with an abutment adapted toengage the edge of the rail to limit the ap movement of said anchor.

one piece rail anchor adapted to be driven transversely of a rail to itsapplied position comprising a yoke formed by bending a metal bar toprovide jaws for engaging the upper surfaces of a rail base and toprovide a seat adapted to bear against vthe under surface of said rail;said seat portion being formed nearer one of said jaws than the other soas to make it necessary to stress said yoke when applying it to itsoperative position and said jaws being provided with shoulders adaptedto engage the opposite vertical edges of the rail base to preventmovement of the anchor transversely of the rail inl either directionfrom its applied position.

- 4. A rail anchor adapted to be driven transversely of a rail to itsapplied position compiising a yoke member formed with jaw po'rtions toengage the upper surfaces of a rail base and with means for bearingagainst the under surface of said base; said bearing means beinglarranged nearer one of said jaws than to the other and said jaws beingeach provided with a shoulder adapted to abut against an edge of therail base when the anchor is in its applied posit-ion.v

5. A rail anchor comprising a yoke member formed with jaws for engagingopposite edges of a rail base and means -for bearing against the bottomsurface of the rail at a point nearer one of said jaws than thc other;said jaws being formed with inclined surfaces to confine theirengagement with the rail base to substantially the upper corners thereofwhen the yoke is in its applied position.

6. A rail anchor comprising a yoke member formed with jaws adapted toengage opposite edges of a rail base and with means for bearing againstthe bottom surface of the rail at a point nearer one of said jaws thanthe other; said jaws being formed with surfaces which normally stand ata greater lmgle than the inclined surfaces of the rail ase.

7 A rail anchor comprising a yoke member formed with jaws for engagingoppo` site edges of a rail base and with means for engaging the bottomsurface of the rail at a point nearer one of said jaws than the other;said jaws being formed with cam surfaces adapted to bear against theupper surface ofthe rail base, whereby movement ofthe yoke in onedirection transversely of the rail distorts the yoke and brings saidjaws and said bearing surface into gripping engagement with the railbase.

8; A rail anchor comprising a yoke member formed with jaws for engagingopposite edges of a rail base and with means for bearing against thebottom surface of the rail at a point nearer one of said jaws than theother; said jaws being formed with cam surfaces adapted to bear againstthe upper surface of the rail base, whereby movement of the yoke in onedirection transversely of the rail distorts the yoke and brings the saidjaws and said bearing surface into gripping engagement with the railbase and one of said jaws being formed with an abutment to limit themovement of the anchor to its normal applied position.

9. A rail anchor comprising a rail base embracing yoke provided withjaws formed to extend over the upper surfaces of a rail base at agreater angle than said surface of said base, the portion of the yokeintermediate said jaws being formed with means for bearing against thebottom surface of the rail nearer one jaw than the other and one of saidjaws being formed at a greater angle than the other.

10. A rail anchor comprising a rail hase embracing yoke provided withjaws formed to extend over the upper surfaces of a rail base at agreater angle than said surfaces and formed with abutments which bearagainst the vertical surfaces of the rail base, the portion of the yokeintermediate said jaws being formed with means for bearing' against thebottoni surface of the rail at a point nearer one of said jaws than theother and one of said jaws being formed at a greater angle than theother jaw, for the purpose described.

HAROLD G. WARR.

